3/25/14

How to create the perfect meal smoothie

This morning I had a great time talking with Melanie about how to create the perfect meal smoothie on News4Jax during the 8 o'clock hour of the Morning Show.

Meal replacement shakes and workout recovery drinks have
been around for some time and if you are on social media, it's likely that you have come across one or two smoothie pictures....in the last hour.

But over the past few years, smoothies have been
given a lot of attention from medical professionals, the health conscious,
celebrities, dietitians and trainers for a lot of great reasons.

When you are in control of the ingredients in your top of
the line, heavy duty blender, smoothies are a delicious and easy way to hydrate
and fill your body with powerful vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, healthy
fats and quality protein to nourish your immune system, energize your muscles
and brain and to keep you satisfied.

In other words, smoothies are a yummy way
to drink your medicine.

The key to making the perfect meal in a cup is it's all about the
ingredients.

I will give you a few ideas on how to create
a healthy and satisfying smoothie that can be used a meal to nourish and energize your body.

Liquids

No smoothie is complete without a liquid base. If you love a milkshake type
consistency of a smoothie (like me), the key is to not overliquify your smoothie.

For a single serving smoothie around 16 ounces or more, aim for
around 1 cup of liquid to start (you can add more water during the blending process. Also leaving your blender running will add volume to your smoothie).

A few great choices include milk or a milk alternative to
provide your body with calcium, potassium, naturally occurring sugars and
carbohydrates. Be mindful of the protein content in almond milk (1g) compared to milk (7-8g) if you are using your liquid to add protein to your drink. Another option, although a bit higher in natural
sugars, is coconut water which has an extra dose of electrolytes if using a
smoothie as a post workout rehydrating meal. Additional water can be used to meet your
consistency needs. Pass on the fruit and vegetable juice so that your smoothie
contains intact fibers from real food.

Liquid options:

Almond milk

Soy milk

Cow’s milk (lactose free is fine)

Coconut water

Fruits and veggies

Here lies the beauty in smoothies. This is why MDs and RD's LOVE smoothies - it's medicine in a cup!

Not only do nutrient and water dense
fruits and veggies bulk up your smoothie with fiber and other vitamins and
minerals like vitamin K, C and potassium but this is an easy way to enjoy a
synergy of nutrients to maximize your health. Think of a smoothie as colorful salad in your blender.

I recommend to use fresh, local fruit when it’s in season but
frozen fruits make a great consistency in a smoothie so you can buy frozen
fruit or freeze your own. Aim for around 1-1.5 cups mixed fruit and around 1
handful leafy greens or 1 cup mixed veggies.

Fruit not only adds sweetness to your
smoothie but also masks the taste of veggies if you are bit hesitant to drink
spinach or kale.

This is typically the one area where smoothie lovers fall short when it
comes to making a volume rich smoothie hold you over for a few hours (as a meal should do).

Not only will healthy fats provide a creamy texture to your smoothie but fats
will also slow down the digestion of the natural sugars found in your
ingredients and will leave you with energy balance which is the main purpose of
using a smoothie as a meal replacement.

What’s great about fats like avocado, oil, flax seeds, nut butters, chia seeds,
coconut, nuts and seeds is that they provide antioxidants, they can help with
absorption of fat soluble vitamins found in veggies and can assist in proper
brain and cardiovascular health. Aim for around 10g of fat in your smoothie and
feel free to mix and match your tasty fats.

Bone building protein

No smoothie meal is complete without protein. Protein gives a smoothie
substance. Ideally aim for around 20-25g of protein in your meal smoothie.
There’s a variety of options depending on the source but what we want to look
for is a complete protein to provide the body with all of the essential amino
acids that your body can not synthesize on it’s own.

Some of my favorites include whey isolate, soy isolate or a vegan (brown rice/pea) protein powder, kefir or
greek yogurt (rich in probiotics), silken tofu or cottage cheese. To give your smoothie a creamy texture
and to avoid a clumpy or chalky smoothie, add your proteins last and then add
additional water as needed.

Spice it up

The last category includes maximizing the smoothie’s nutrient profile and giving the smoothie a burst of flavor. What’s great about these flavor
enhancers is that they all contain a long list of health benefits from helping with
blood pressure, controlling blood sugar and reducing inflammation.

What’s great about smoothies is that all of these
ingredients can boost your health and taste great when mixed in a blender, but they are also super delicious when consumed on a
plate with silverware.

It's important to maintain a balanced diet for overall health and smoothies are an easy way to help boost your intake of vitamins and minerals. Always consult with your primary physician before starting a new diet/eating plan, especially if you are currently on medications (ex. blood thinners) or have a clinical condition (ex. gout, etc.) that may prohibited you from over consuming certain vitamins and minerals in excess (which is easy to do in a smoothie). And if you really really really love your smoothies, keep them to one a day and enjoy chewing your food for your other two meals.

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Welcome to Trimarni!

The Trimarni mission is to help athletes reach performance goals without compromising health.
Marni has a great understanding of physiology of the human body during exercise and how food affects a body in motion.
She focuses her time helping triathletes and runners learn how to maximize fitness while keeping the body in good health. Marni is well educated in the areas of sport nutrition (for training and racing) and triathlon coaching, exercise physiology and strength training, for athletes of all fitness levels. She specializes in endurance training and sport nutrition, with a great understanding of the metabolic, immune and hormonal stress that occurs when training for a long distance event. Behind every great athlete is a well planned diet - she also helps athletes create great daily nutrition habits to support consistent training.
Marni is passionate about helping athletes train smarter in order to reach performance, body composition and health goals faster.
Karel is an experienced RETUL bike fitter and bike mechanic and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to all things bikes and cycling.
Marni and Karel coach a team of triathletes alongside providing services to triathletes, cyclists and runners.

About us

Marni holds a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology and she is a Board Certified Sport Dietitian who specializes in coaching and sport nutrition for endurance athletes. Marni is passionate about helping athletes of all levels learn how to fuel and eat to maximize performance, while keeping the body healthy. She is a 11x Ironman finisher including 4 Ironman World Championship finishes. In, 2015, Karel and Marni both competed in the 2015 IM World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Marni holds an Ironman PR of 10:06 (2016 Ironman Austria), where she had the fastest overall female swim time (57.06) and placed 2nd AG (30-34), finishing fastest amateur female American and 4th amateur female (10th overall female). Marni is a well-known writer and contributes frequently to Ironman, Triathlete Mag, USAT and can be found quoted in other publications like Runner's World, Shape, Women's Running, Fitness and Men's Health. Marni is enjoys public speaking and working one-on-one with athletes at camps and clinics. Marni is a long-time lacto-ovo vegetarian (since the age of 10) as she loves animals.

Karel is an accomplished Cat 1 cyclist turned Ironman triathlete. He was the former general manager of the Trek Bicycle store in Jacksonville, FL and now works at Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition as a coach and RETUL bike fit expert. Karel has successfully completed 6 Ironman distance triathlons and has qualified for the Ironman World Championship twice (in 2014 at IMWI and in 2016 at IMMT). He holds an Ironman PR of 9:13 (2016 IM Austria) and at 2016 Ironman Mont Tremblant, he clocked the fastest amateur male run split (3:08) of the day.

When Marni and Karel are not working, they can be found cooking/eating, exploring Greenville, SC or spending time with their four-legged furry child Campy.